Power cut.............again.

[Hotrodder]

Having just survived an internet/comms outage for about a week I decided to set up a satellite system thinking it would be more reliable. Received the satellite in pieces to assemble and got stuck drilling a hole in the granit wall to get the coax through. Had to pay €70 for a 10mm x not quite long enough drill bit to get through. Then rain stopped play and to top it all..........there was a power cut for just over 24 hours. Candles everywhere and electric cooking appliances useless. No telly, and going nuts with nothing to do but sleep and curse the French utility companys.

Now the (slow) internet is back I'm going to be doing research to find a large diesel generator for power, and a smaller one to run the mobile phone signal booster system. Living in darkest Bretagne is like a third world country at best, and like living in the 19th century at its worst.

Yes. I am very fed up with the struggle.

[MAD87]

Commiserations, Hotrodder. I remember the Great Storm of '99 when candles and an ancient range were pressed into service. Not fun at all. I had a mobile for work (forced on me) but I had to walk up the garden beyond the well to use it before the storm...
Chitac promised that all cables would be buried after that. Yeah right.

[Hotrodder]

Buried? That's not even amusing, mate. All this Spring and Summer we watched contractors installing Fibre for those lucky enough to get it. Every last inch of it has been strung on poles, alongside the old copper that the local farmers delight in knocking down with overloaded round bales.

Oh, and yes. The power went down again this morning just as I was putting away the camp cooker and gas bottle that was pressed into service yesterday.

When power goes down here, everything else goes as well. No mobile coverage here without a booster, which runs on mains.

[hughnique]

I remember when first arriving here that power cuts seemed to be the norm, so invested in a petrol genny from Aldi, think 200€. Used it half a dozen times then it gathered dust as we had a more stable supply. If we get one now it seems as though they are changing supplies over and they are a bit out of synch, but normally back within a couple of seconds

[basquesteve]

Way back in our first home 1996 no electricity for 3 months it had to be connected,no mains water just a well, mobiles were a rarity How things have changed

[Hotrodder]

They certainly have. Today it is near impossible to live without a so-called "smart phone" without which some banks won't even let you access your account. Everything used to be possible with a simple internet connection which was available over the (copper) telephone lines. Now because there is so much data being transmitted over the lines the system can't cope. So they push the latest innovation-Fibre. All bow to the wonderful new Fibre, which may never reach the more rural areas with fewer population and therefore less political clout. Banks, financial entities, and some online sales depend on a "security" code that must be sent by SMS. Since whatever kind of phone you lust after, it will be at the mercy of a mobile network signal. If there is a hill between you and the nearest antenna tower...........game over. This scenario has forced me into the expensive option of satellite internet. And now searching for a generator because of frequent power cuts here at Little Hell.

[Wilbro]

Yes the fibre is wonderful. Faster and better all round. And the same price as copper.

[basquesteve]

I could use fibre the post is across the road, as more people use it, the copper wire is becoming faster and faster. I am happy in the middle of no where or last on the line with 28Mb so will hang on with what Ihave

[Blaze]

With the value of copper(like gold) rocketing, and thefts of copper wire increasing, I'm glad we have fibre. Whilst it seems that it's the copper wires alongside the railway lines that is being stolen, one day perhaps thieves will look around for other opportunities ...
OH needs internet for work and fibre made a huge reduction in the time he spent on the computer.

[exile]

There is precious little copper in a phone line - each wire having a cross section of about the same size as a single strand in a bit of electric flex.

The value of the copper can be judged by the installers of our fibre leaving us to disconnect and dispose of the old copper wire - about 100m above ground connection.